Ottawa Rapid FC have handed the keys to Carmelina Moscato, naming the former Canadian international as their next head coach on a deal running through 2028. She won't be in the dugout immediately — Katrine Pedersen stays through the current season and any playoff run — but the appointment signals a clear long-term vision for a club that's playing the best football in the NSL right now.
Moscato, 42, comes in off the back of a stint leading Al Qadsiah FC's women's side in Saudi Arabia, and she brings a coaching résumé that's been quietly building credibility for years. She guided Tigres UANL Femenil to the Liga MX Femenil Apertura title in 2022, worked in Denmark with FC Nordsjælland, and earned her NWSL stripes as an assistant at Racing Louisville FC. This isn't a sentimental hire. It's a qualified one.
Pedersen leaves a strong house in order
Whoever coaches Ottawa next year is inheriting something genuinely enviable. Rapid FC sit top of the NSL standings with a 10-2-3 record and 33 points through 15 matches — six clear of Montreal Roses. Pedersen announced her departure on July 17, but she's not walking out the door mid-campaign. She sees it through. That professional exit matters more than it sounds; a distracted dugout at this stage of the season could unravel a title race, and Ottawa can't afford that.
Moscato also has personal ties to the city, having spent three seasons playing for the Ottawa Fury in the USL W-League during her playing days. "Ottawa is a city that has played an important part in my soccer journey," she said. That's not just PR warmth — familiarity with a market matters when you're trying to build culture from scratch, which Moscato will effectively be doing ahead of the 2027 season.
A decorated player turned serious coach
94 caps for Canada. A bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics. Induction into the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame in 2023. Moscato earned her reputation on the pitch before ever building one off it.
For Ottawa's title odds this season, none of this changes anything immediately — Pedersen is still the coach, the squad is still top of the table, and the focus should rightly stay there. But from a futures perspective, a club with this kind of stability in their coaching transition is one worth watching into next year. Continuity and ambition in the same announcement is a rare combination.
Moscato takes over a club in genuinely good shape. The pressure will be on her to keep it that way.
